Computerized axial tomography in chronic partial epilepsies

EEG and CAT studies were performed in 187 adult chronic epileptics. Acute convulsions, known tumor epilepsies, and seizures due to a rapidly advancing neurologic disease were excluded. Partial seizures of elementary and complex symptoms were nearly equally frequent. In 48 patients the etiology of the seizure disorder remained unknown. Among the verified etiologies residual brain damage were the most significant. In 10 cases the chronic seizure disorder was due to slowly growing brain tumors. CAT findings were normal in 86 patients (46%) and abnormal in 101 (54%). Localizing signs could be demonstrated by neuroradiologic and/or radionuclide tests in 15.7%, by CAT in 28.9%, by neurologic examination in 58.3%, and by EEG in 78.1%. Localized CAT-pathology showed no correlation to the types of partial seizures, whereas a significant correlation could be established with residual brain scars and tumors and with localized neurologic or EEG findings. Epilepsy starting after the age of 15 is more likely to be linked with CAT-pathology than with seizure disorders starting in childhood.